Forrest Bird Charter students value volunteering

The Interact Club at Forrest M. Bird Charter School recently raised enough money to provide 12,578 polio immunizations to children around the world.

The club, in its third year at FBCS, collected over $700 in a friendly high school competition. That money was matched two-to-one by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a total of $2,138.55.

“The kids ran the show,” said teacher advisor Jay Myers. “These teens have learned to value volunteering.”

Leadership skills and Service Above Self are the focus of Rotary International’s service club for youth. Worldwide, there are Interact clubs in 160 countries. The Interact chapters at FBCS and Sandpoint High School are sponsored by the Rotary Club of Sandpoint and the Ponderay Centennial Rotary Club. Rotary provides guidance, and Interact clubs are required to do one international and one local project every year. Otherwise, the youth clubs are self-governing.

“The best word I can use to describe Interact is that it is transformative for these kids,” Deborah Barton, is a Rotary mentor for the Forrest M. Bird students. “They are working together for something bigger than themselves.”

Reese Litster, president of the Forrest M. Bird Charter School club, said that he is learning a lot through Interact.

“It is really fun to work with people to make the community better.” The teen was shy when he joined the group three years ago. “I have learned how to express myself in a group situation.”

Litster is also excited about the potential for joint community projects between FBCS and SHS Interact clubs. The two clubs reached out to each other this fall and members have attended each other’s meetings. The idea to connect came from the students themselves.

Jay Myers loves to sit back and watch the teens become leaders. “I just facilitate,” he said. “These kids are fantastic.